And I didn’t die from all the mountain hills. Or walk that much.
But I did PR – by 15 minutes. I finished in 2:45:06.
But I was hungover. And it was cold. And it tried to SNOW AND RAIN on me.
And I didn’t jump into the lake. And I didn’t finish last as expected. I was 3rd from last. Or 51st.
Here will be a pretty long race recap of Stanley, the town & race itself. You have to know I babble a lot already. If you don’t want to read it all, well, skip to the bottom & leave a comment congratulating me on running a good race and having a good time. 🙂
I used to spend a lot of time up there a few summers ago. I actually had the BF sleep in a tent on the ground for his first real camping experience up there. The city boy he is hated it.
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| View from our room |
This time we picked the Sawtooth Hotel, which is both like a hotel with restaurant and little cabins with kitchenettes behind. My only requirement when picking a place to stay up there was that we didn’t have to share a potty with others in, like in some of the hotels (like Redfish) up there. It was cozy and it worked out just fine.
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| This was the whole room. |
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| Ace of Diamonds street |
Dinner was a pretty good pizza (Sawtooth Special) and a beer at Papa Brunees. There, I ran across someone who I thought I would never see again. Some boy (he’s got to be about 40-41 now) that my then-BFF was in love with at the time, but he was interested in me. When I wouldn’t make out with him, I left where the 3 of us were staying and walked 45 minutes home in the cold on Thanksgiving morning, like 4am. He then threw all the patio furniture around outside and then blamed it on the dogs. Anyways, the BF knew this story and I know this dude recognized me. He walked pass me twice then headed to the bar across the street. I swear, you can get more drama from a small town…
We headed back to our room and tried to get the internet connection to work. It didn’t work. Either the BFs laptop is a POS or the internet was too weak. Or both. We drank some Wild Turkey I brought & watched TeamCoco on YouTube on my phone. Once upon a time, my cell provider didn’t work up there. Thank goodness it now does! After finishing off 12oz of the bird, and a couple of Nuuns, I somehow convinced the BF to walk down to one of 2 bars on the street. It was 11pm and I wanted to go to bed at 12 (which I did) but there was nothing to do in the room until then. (No TV, no internet) Sensible thing would to have to taken an Ambien & go to bed early. Somehow the BF (who has been calling himself my manager & trainer, which he does nothing of the sort) agreed to go down to Kasino Club where there was a band playing. And where that boy went in after having pizza. We didn’t see him and the BF & I got a beer. With super crappy service from the bartender. I shouldn’t have tipped him, but I did. Oh and from somewhere, the boy had come in and sat himself across the bar from me. I know he recognized me so it was funny & awkward at the same time…
So, I should not have had that beer. Really. After flaunting my presence at the bar, we walked back and pounded some water and a went to bed. I slept really good. But the sun started shining through the white curtains, I swear at 5:30am. I didn’t sleep well from 5:30-7:30. We use blackout curtains at home, so getting up with the sun isn’t something we are used to.
I was hungover. Really. I started to worry that I be puking and miserable and possibly need medical attention somewhere along the course. I got ready to leave by 9am (race started at 10am) and I forced part of a Starbucks Via down and at least one glass of water, and 1.5 glasses of Nuun, 2 bites of bread, and a bite of fruit bites from the GoPicnic.
It was cold and windy. How cold, IDK, but snow did start falling at the start after I picked up my number. I got my number, my shirt, and the swag bag had a poster of Redfish, a lipbalm with the logo of the lodge on it (which the BF claimed for himself), some Sport Beans (which the BF ate.) Somehow, I forgot my hat, which I always wear for runs to keep my short hair contained. I packed 3 bags of stuff & I forgot my hat. I was stuck wearing the BFs hat, it was bigger, but worked out ok.
Some runner girl asked if we wanted her to take our pic. Sure. I told her I was going to finish last. Which I didn’t. She placed & got a medal. Congrats to her!
I bet I looked like a pro runner. I wore my white Adrenalines, which I never wear anymore because the Pures are better and I should have worn those instead. #SweatPink laces, Zensah sleeves, Nike Skapri (with 2 hammer gels in the back pocket) my #SweatPink tank, UA HeatGear longsleeve, Nike Golf hat, and Columbia fleece jacket, and my Amphipod race belt. Oh and Black Diamond gloves.
Race started after the national anthem and basically 30 seconds after 10am. Which is ok.
I got warm after the 1st mile. I tied my fleece around my waist. Put my ipod in the pocket of the jacket and turned it on. I actually wanted to stop and walk before the 1st mile because of some slight inclines, but I didn’t. And everyone passed me who was going to pass me, except one girl who passed me after mile 5,6 or so. She was in my sights until mile 10 and then I lost her. All I did was zone out. And kept pushing myself. I usually think about how my body is moving and how it feels when I run, but I didn’t. I kept thinking about the road or trails in front of me. It helped me not think about what hurts or how I felt. I even totally forgot to take a gel at the mile 5 water stop. I took it at 7. And my stomach felt really empty and hungry after the water stop at mile 10. So I opened another gel & took it at the water stop at 12 or so.
The race went around the lake, through the campgrounds, on trails, service roads, and on the main roads. The one thing that I really liked is that the road, except on one part of the road crossing the river, was flat and didn’t have an incline going to the left or the right like some roads and trails (the greenbelt incline is bad going out towards Lucky Peak.) and I think that helped me not worry about my body pain so much. The lack of incline & not being on the same surface the whole race. I liked the variety.
The single track was awesome & well marked. I thanked every single volunteer because they were super awesome. They were even on the single track to help people stay on course, but the blue flags really helped. The water stops were, I think, either 2 or 3 miles apart. 2/3, 5, 7, 10, 12. I only felt lost at points near the end where I was totally alone and my brain totally depleted of glycogen. The water cups were generous (thank you for that!), but there was no gels available so make sure you bring your own.
I wasn’t thinking about pace, just making a note of what I was doing when. I noticed that I was going to get in by 3 hours at mile 6 by how I felt, and confirmed at mile 10.
The BF found me after this pic. I gave him my fleece jacket and continued up the hill. The biggest uphill all race was here. I thought he noticed the 1 mile to go sign but he was wandering somewhere and missed me at the finish line. It took me 10 minutes after I finished to find him (which was better then Robies 20) & I was cold, wet, hungry, and very cranky.
Thankfully when I crossed the finish line, it was when they were giving away the awards, so I had a large crowd cheering me & the announcer even said my name.
There was no finisher medals, or bling after, so I was totally bummed about that.
Food afterwards was good & plentyful. Chocolate milk, yogurt, bananas, watermelon, honeydew, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots with ranch, pasta salad, bagels w/cream cheese, hot macaroni & cheese. Drinks available were hot chocolate (which hit the spot because I was so freakin cold), lemonade, water, and they were out of hot coffee when I arrived. Which I wanted.
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| I don’t know what I was doing here. |
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| I was eating a bagel & cream cheese. With gloves on. Do you see the snow to the left of the tent? |
I was too cold to jump into the lake. I think the prize for doing so was a towel. And I didn’t even drink my wine I brought because I was too cold.
So, what worked for this race to give me a 15 minute personal best? Well, not eating as much pre-race. And being hungover (which didn’t help performance) but maybe did, because I didn’t eat as much pre-race, whatever water I took in my body needed it because I was dehydrated so I didn’t feel all that water bloat as like in Robie. I didn’t have the race anxiety as I normally have. Because my brain was so depleted I couldn’t use it to think about anything. And the fact that there were only 53 runners, and I knew I had one person behind me (there were 2 actually) helped motivate me to push a little faster. Oh, and spending time on the trails in the foothills I think really helped too!
Anyways, this has taken me 2.5hrs to type up. Time for a hot tub, breakfast, and foam rolling. Enjoy your weekend!